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2008 Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Energy Subdivision updates
Update: January 22, 2009 5 p.m.
The Environment, Energy, Natural Resources Budget Division Energy Subdivision, chaired by Sen. Gary Kubly (DFL-Granite Falls), met Thurs., Jan. 22 to discuss power storage technologies.
Dr. Imre Gyuk, program manager of Energy Storage Research, U.S. Dept. of Energy, said the U.S. Dept. of Energy supports usage of alternative electricity storage technologies such as lithium ion batteries, flow batteries, pumped storage and compressed air energy storage. Using energy fast storage can be twice as effective as gas turbines and 20 times more effective than steam turbines, he said. He also said energy storage allows increased asset utilizations for generation and transmission, which would reduce the number of plants causing pollution.
Gyuk also said Xcel Energy has put in a one-megawatt six-hour sodium sulfur facility in Luverne, Minnesota, to complement the 11-megawatt wind facility.
Dr. Edward G. Cazalet, vice president and founder of MegaWatt Storage Farms, Inc., outlined California's electricity storage policy agenda, saying that they want to be using 33 percent renewable energy by 2020. Cazalet also said California plans to establish a portfolio standard of five percent of peak load for electric storage that lasts four to six hours, is clean and has less than a one second response from full charge to discharge.
Both Gyuk and Cazalet encouraged members to consider a variety of energy storage options.
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